Down the Aisle
by a-perfect-melody
Summary: "I don't know if ghosts can hear, Daddy, and I don't know if you're dead but I love you, okay, I love you." / It's her wedding day and she wants so much for her father to walk her down the aisle.


**Down the Aisle**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and accept no credit towards it. I am not the wonderful J.K. Rowling nor am I in any way affiliated with her.**

 **Warnings: quite a few instances of bad language.**

 **Prompts at the end to avoid potential spoilers.**

 **Word Count (without A/N): 2, 131**

 **Hope you enjoy reading it! Xx**

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The door closes softly behind Lily Luna and she lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding and smooths down the front of her cream coloured dress.

Two hours.

In two hours, she will be waltzing down the aisle on the arm of the wrong person toward the man she loves more anything and everyone will pretend like there's nobody missing but there is.

Three seats will sit empty right at the front of the chapel and everyone's eyes will flicker over them as they file in but nobody will say anything because they're too polite and choked up with their own memories to speak.

Lily brushes away the tears that pool in her eyes instinctively.

It's her wedding day and it should be the happiest day of her life.

But it's not, because much as she loves Teddy, she doesn't think she wants to get married when three of the best people in all of their lives are missing.

She turns her head toward the photo on her bedside, forcing herself to look at the people grinning happily within and hating them, her past self and her family laughing with her daddy like nothing at all is wrong.

But it is, it is, _everything's_ wrong.

As she picks up the picture, her father's head inside the frame swivels to grin at her and he has Al's eyes and Jamie's hair and her smile and, for a moment, _she can't breathe,_ because her father's memory is staring up at her and looking at her with the same kindhearted expression he used to wear and Lily's heart is shattering all over again.

It's been years.

Twenty eight since the Muggles dropped their nuclear bombs on the world and rendered it a desolate waste ground; a futile (and failed) attempt to rid the universe of magic after finding out about Voldemort and panicking.

Twenty six since the Light wizards were forced to hide themselves in settlements under Fideliuses and protective charms to keep out the deadly radiation raining from the now crimson coloured sky.

Two since her father and Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron had been ambushed by Death Eaters in the Forbidden Forest whilst out during a rescue mission and have not been heard from since.

Staring down at the photo in her hands now, the one taken about five weeks before her father's disappearance, Lily envies the cheerful expressions displayed on her family's face.

"Daddy," she whispers, reaching out a hand to touch the photo as if she thinks she might be able to pull him back to her if she tries hard enough. "Daddy?"

Nothing feels natural about talking to a memory in a picture but if she just focuses on his eyes, it's like he's here with her again. "Daddy, I'm getting married today,"

Her father's face doesn't show any indication that he's heard her (of course it doesn't) but Lily continues because it's her fucking wedding day and she _needs_ to know her dad is still with her.

"You said you'd be here, remember, Daddy? When I was eight and I asked if you'd come to my wedding, you said you wouldn't miss it for the world. Well, Daddy, it's been two years and your little girl has grown up. I don't know where you are, or if-" her voice catches in her throat "to be honest, Daddy, I don't even know if you're still alive but I like to think you are. You once promised me you would never leave without saying goodbye so you can't be dead because there was no goodbye-" she's rambling now, trying not to cry because her makeup is going to run and she's got to go the chapel in ten minutes but she really needs to know what her future will be and wether her father will be around to share it with her and she can't do that unless he's here with her, breathing, laughing, and being alive again.

For a moment, Lily considers hurling the picture at the wall because she feels so fucking useless stuck inside this camp while her father and aunt and uncle fight for their lives in the big, ugly world they all live in, but then there's a knock at the door and she has to calm herself down.

"Hello? Lily? Can I come in?" Rose trips through the doorway, stumbling in her too high pale pink heels and wobbling over to kiss Lily on the cheek. "Merlin, you look ridiculously beautiful," she says and Lily has to smile a little.

"Not too shabby yourself, Weasley," is her reply which is one hell of a lie because Rose doesn't look okay, she looks fucking gorgeous and perfectly unbroken even after two years of wasting away and wondering if her parents are dead.

"Can I ask you something?" Lily says suddenly and she sees Rose's eyes flicker to the photo on Lily's bed. Rose shrugs.

"If you want, cuz."

"Do you," Lily starts and then hesitates. "Do you think they'll ever come back to us?"

Rose flinches.

"I mean," Lily hurries to correct herself. "Do you think we'll ever see them again? Do you think they'll just wander back in someday and everything will just go back to normal?"

Rose stares at her.

"Seriously?" She says, her voice wobbling just a little bit. "You want to do this now, Lily? You want to bring up my dead parents and your dead dad- for- for what, so you can have some- some peace of mind on your wedding day?"

"They're not dead!" Lily screeches and she hates this, hates how she and her favourite cousin are fighting but she still refuses to admit they're dead because they can't be, _they can't be_ , they never said goodbye- "I- I mean- they _must_ be alive- it's impossible to think otherwise..."

Rose has an almost pitying look on her face.

"Why are you bringing this up now?" She asks softly. "This of all days."

Lily stares at her feet.

"I can't sit here, Rose, and let all of them haunt me anymore, I can't watch my dad die in my dreams every night and not know the truth. I think- I think I need to go find them-"

" _What_?" Rose's face is screwed up in horror. "You can't- the radiation, Lily- our parents weren't stupid when they said we all need to stay here- it's too dangerous-"

"Since when have you cared about danger?" Lily scoffs and Rose's eyes flash for a moment.

"Since I was left an orphan at eighteen."

The two girls fall silent, the room filled with the sounds of heavy breathing.

"I think that's what I want to do," Lily whispers after a moment. "Not until after the wedding, of course. I could never break Teddy's heart like that. But I want to go find them."

Rose doesn't say anything and stares at the floor for a minute before she looks up, her expression steely and determined.

"Well, make sure you don't leave without me."

Lily envelops her cousin in a bone crushing hug, wrapping her arms around the taller redhead and whispering,

"Thank you,"

Rose rolls her eyes, she's always liked to pretend that she's not sentimental, and claps Lily on the back.

"C'mon, then, cuz. You've got a groom waiting for you at the alter."

The familiar spark of excitement that she should have been feeling the whole morning rushes into Lily and she looks guiltily at her father's picture, feeling ashamed because he is surely struggling to hold on to life somewhere and here she is getting exhilarated over her wedding to a boy ten years her senior.

But she loves Teddy, no matter what anyone says, and he loves her and Lily knows that her dad would want her to be happy.

"I love you," she says softly to the photo and if Rose hears, she pretends to not to be listening.

.

Lily thinks about her dad on the way to the chapel.

She misses him, she misses him all the fucking time and she hates it, hates him because he was too much of a hero and a saviour and she loathes that he can't just be a coward for once in his life and run home to them because they're all cracking and sinking and falling apart without him.

She and Rose pass Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione's old house in silence. It seems weird not to be going inside because, for sixteen years of her life, Lily practically lived inside that house, laughing with her aunt and uncle and joking with her cousins and now the house is desolate and empty and Rose's eyes don't even flicker over the place she once called home.

Everybody is already inside the chapel when they get there with the exception of her mother and brothers, the former of which quickly wraps Lily into a hug.

"You look absolutely beautiful," her mother whispers and hugs her harder. "You remind me of me on my wedding day," she pulls back, hands Lily a bouquet of orange marigolds and winks. "I've told everyone they're handpicked but really I used my wand. But that's our secret, alright, Petal?"

Lily smiles at the childhood nickname.

"Love you, Mum."

"Love you too," Her mother sounds pleasantly surprised by the sentimentality in Lily's voice. "Everyone else is inside, okay, love? I'll go tell them you're ready."

Her mother disappears into the chapel, her red hair uncoiling from it's bun.

Lily remembers seeing those locks as the news of her father and aunt and uncle's disappearance first reached them, remembers seeing her mother buckle against the door, her face ashen and pale, remembers the hugging that cane afterwards, a desperate cling to a family already breaking apart.

She knows her mother blames herself for what happened, that her mum hates herself for not being there with her husband and friends, for being on a scouting mission with Neville and Luna, for shouting at her brother before he left because he'd left the kitchen sink running again-

The music starts, cutting through Lily's train of thought, and it's a cheerful, upbeat tune that feels so out of place considering the situation they all find themselves in but they take their happiness where they can get it, so Jamie and Al take up residence on either of her arms and Lily tries to breathe, tries to calm the hurricane of butterflies rushing through her stomach because it's her wedding day, that's finally sinking in, she's going to marry Teddy...

And then the doors swing open and she sees him, her Teddy, and everything could almost be okay again.

He pulls a face at her as they walk up the aisle, Jamie occasionally bashing into a pew because the aisle was not made for three people, Al pulling at the collar of his too tight suit and Lily stumbling in the heels she is not used to wearing but they make it up to the alter eventually and she kisses both of her brothers on the cheek before they move to sit down.

Teddy takes her hands.

"You look _breathtaking_ ," he whispers and goes to kiss her before a gentle cough reminds him that he is not supposed to do that yet. Lily chuckles.

"Yeah, well, you still look as gorgeous as ever."

There's a lot of shushing from the crowd as the ceremony begins and Lily and Teddy exchange rings. They're simple rings - finding spare metal and precious stones are the least of anyone's worries these days but they're beautiful and to Lily, they're perfect so nothing else matters.

Vows are said, speeches are made, and finally the ceremony is over and they hear the words "you may now kiss the bride." so Teddy leans in and smiles and presses his lips to hers and everything fades to a blur and it's just Lily and Teddy in their cocoon-

 _Daddy, I'm married, Daddy do you see?_

 _I'm sorry that you're not here, Daddy, but I'm proud of you for fighting even if you can't be with us anymore._

 _I don't know if ghosts can hear, Daddy, and I don't know if you're dead, but I love you, okay, I love you and I miss you, tell Ron and Hermione that I love them too if you're still with them_ -

Her father's story is not over yet, of that Lily is certain, she's going to find them, she's going to bring them home and she's never going to let them go again.

She wraps her arms around her husband, kissing him harder, and maybe most things in her life aren't perfect but this moment right here with Teddy is damn near close and that's good enough for her.

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 **/**

 **Written for:**

 **Camp Potter:**

 **Tie Dye Station:**

 **Dystopian AU**

 **"Seriously, you want to do this now?"**

 **Forbidden Forest**

 **2k words**

 **Ice Cream Making Station:**

 **Pistachio: Teddy Lupin**

 **The Fairy Woods:**

 **Write about someone figuring out what they want in the future**

 **/**

 **Hogwarts:**

 **Assignment 3, Gardening, Task 3: write about a wedding**

 **Sophie's Tearoom: wedding**

 **/**

 **Aaarghhh, so I'm not actually sure if I like this yet?**

 **I sort of rushed the ending so I don't know if it's okay. I was thinking about potentially writing a sequel to this to expand this AU further so let me know if you think I should.**

 **Anyway, if you leave a review, you would make my day.**

 **As always, thank you so much for reading! Xx**


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